AMHERST, N.Y. - Senior Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) erupted for a career-high 38 points to lead the Daemen College women's basketball team to a 97-83 victory over the University of Bridgeport today at Lumsden Gymnasium on the Daemen campus.
Daemen has now won four of its last six games and improved to 4-3 overall and 2-0 in East Coast Conference play. Daemen entered the game ranked ninth in the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region poll. The Purple Knights suffered their third-straight loss and dropped to 3-6 overall and 0-2 in the league.
Daemen, which drilled 18 three-pointers during an 86-43 win over Roberts Wesleyan College on Wednesday, went 12-for-27 from downtown this afternoon.
Bridgeport used the three-pointer to build an early double-digit lead in the game, as the Purple Knights made four triples in the first five minutes of the game to take a 20-10 lead. Graduate student Samirah Henderson made three of the four three-pointers and scored 13 points during the early UB run. Daemen quickly cut the lead to four points, 22-18, and later took a 25-24 lead after Titus drilled a three-pointer with 1:44 left in the first quarter.
Daemen took a 28-27 lead into the second quarter and the hosts used a 15-2 run at the start of the second quarter to take control. Titus hit two three-pointers during the run and two free throws by sophomore Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) with 5:29 left before halftime capped the spurt and gave Daemen a 43-29 lead. The Wildcats would take a 49-39 lead into the break.
UB opened the third quarter with a three-pointer from Henderson, but the Purple Knights would not score again until Henderson hit another triple with 5:40 left in the quarter. Daemen took advantage of the UB drought and built a 59-42 lead. The Purple Knights got the lead down to 11 points, 61-50, after junior Stephanie McBride hit a jumper with 4:21 left in the quarter, but Daemen got a three-pointer from Titus and two free throws from redshirt senior Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) to regain a 16-point lead, 66-50. Daemen held a 73-60 lead after three quarters, but the Purple Knights got to within single digits, 73-64, after back-to-back buckets to start the final quarter. That is as close as the visitors would come, as Daemen ran off eight unanswered points to regain a 17-point advantage, 81-64. The Wildcats maintained a double digit lead the rest of the way.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Titus connected on 15-of-22 shots overall and made 5-of-9 from three-point land. She also grabbed 11 rebounds, giving her five double-doubles on the year. Titus finished just seven points shy of tying the school-record for points in a game (45) set by Sarah Soroka on Dec. 22, 2010. Her 38 points tied the program record for most points in a game during Daemen's NCAA Division II era—equaling the 38 points Filbert netted during a 77-74 loss to Nova Southeastern University on Nov. 29, 2019.
- Filbert nearly recorded a double-double as well, as she finished with a season-high 20 points and a season-high nine rebounds.
- Paige played a season-high 35 minutes and finished with a season-high 12 points and a season-high six assists.
- All five starters scored double figures for the Purple Knights. Henderson went 7-of-10 from downtown and finished with 29 points and six assists, while sophomore Brianna Meekins added 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
GAME NOTES
- The Wildcats went 30-of-59 (51%) from the field and have now shot over 50-percent from the field in back-to-back games. They shot a season-high 56-percent (33-59) from the field during the win over Roberts Wesleyan this past Wednesday. The Wildcats have connected on 51-percent (30-of-59) of their three-point attempts over the last two games.
- Daemen also handed out over 20 assists for the second-straight game. The Wildcats dished out a season-high 25 assists Wednesday night and posted 21 assists today.
- Bridgeport shot 49-percent (32-of-65) from the field overall and drained 11-of-24 (46%) three-pointers.
- UB becomes the first team to score 80 or more points on Daemen since New York Tech posted an 84-46 victory over the Wildcats on Dec. 16, 2018--a streak of 70-straight games. Daemen entered the game allowing just 58.5 points per game this season.
- Daemen has now won 26-straight home regular-season conference games dating back to the 2017-18 season.
- Titus became the 27th member of Daemen's 1,000-Point Club during a win over Angelo State University earlier this year and has now totaled 1,099 points, 639 rebounds and 135 blocks in 80 career games. She is just the fourth player in program history to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks.
- Filbert played in her 100th career game today. She has now netted 1,173 points during her career. She sits in 15th place on Daemen's all-time scoring list.
- Daemen held the advantage in bench points (16-6) and fast break points (26-10), while UB held the edge in points off turnovers (16-12). Both teams scored 34 points in the paint.
- Daemen is now 55-13 in their last 68 games, a span that dates back to mid January of 2019. The Wildcats are now 43-8 against ECC opponents since the start of the 2018-19 season.
NEXT JUMP BALL
The Wildcats are idle until Dec. 17 when they travel to Staten Island, N.Y. to take on ECC newcomer the College of Staten Island.
Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 18 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.
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